Joshua Pairsh was from the small village of Equality in southeastern Illinois. A 2004 Cum Laude graduate of Murray State University in Kentucky, Pairsh earned a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He had been deployed to Iraq in 2007-2008.

Pairsh was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve. He was a ground supply officer with 4th Civil Affairs Group, based out of Washington, D.C. He had been promoted to a Marine Corps captain in the fall of 2010.

Captain Joshua C. Pairsh died January 22nd after returning to the US from Afghanistan on January 3rd. He was 29 years old and had come down with what was reported to be a “non-combat related illness.” According to the Evansville Courier & Press site:

Capt. Joshua C. Pairsh, 29, of Equality died Sunday at a hospital in Washington, D.C.

Family members said Pairsh contracted pneumonia while serving in Afghanistan and was transferred to a hospital in Germany where he was diagnosed with lymphoma and was later transferred to the Washington, D.C., hospital…

His remains were cremated, according to a spokesperson with the Vickery Funeral Home in Equality, and will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery with a graveside service set for 3 p.m. Feb. 15. A local memorial service is also planned.

Captain Pairsh is survived by his wife, Tanya, and two children, Avery and Lawson.

FORT HOOD, Texas — A 49-year-old brigadier general died Friday in Afghanistan of apparent natural causes, the U.S. Army said, and he is among the highest-ranking service members to die there.

Fort Hood announced Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner’s death Saturday in a statement posted on its website. Hildner had commanded the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at Fort Hood since August 2010. He left for Afghanistan in December to support the NATO mission there.

The Army said his death was under investigation, although it appeared natural.

“This is a tragic loss for the Army, III Corps and for our Central Texas community,” Lt. Gen. Don Campbell Jr., Fort Hood’s commanding general, said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

The 13th ESC led by Hildner supports other units, handling the distribution of everything from clothing to ammunition and performing maintenance on equipment, according to its website. It includes the 1st Medical Brigade, which provides health care and combat medical service.

Hildner served in Iraq during both Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 U.S.-led war. He also served in Kuwait and was part of the last U.S. patrol along the East-West German border before its reunification.

He assumed command of the 13th Corps Support Command’s Special Troops Battalion at Fort Hood in 2003 and was in charge during two deployments, one in Iraq and one following Hurricane Katrina. In Iraq, the battalion provided general logistical support to units around Joint Base Balad and the Abu Gharib prison complex. It provided military and humanitarian support after Katrina swamped New Orleans.

Hildner was born in New Haven, Conn., and listed Fairfax, Va., as his official home. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1984 and attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1997.

From July 2007 to July 2009, Hildner led the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade at Fort Lee, Va., training more than 20,000 soldiers a year for deployment worldwide.

Col. Knowles Atchison, 13th ESC rear commander, said in a statement that Hildner’s death was a shock to the unit.

“Both forward deployed elements and we at home station are deeply saddened by this loss,” he said. “We will all pull together through this difficult period and care for one another.”

British Gurkha, Lance Corporal Gajbahadur Gurung, serving with the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, was killed in Afghanistan on Friday 27th January 2012.

L-Cpl Gurung was on a foot patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand when he was shot and died from the wound. Born in Majthana, Nepal, in October 1985, he joined the Brigade of Gurkhas in December 2004. After he completed training in the UK, he joined 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles and served both in Brunei and Britain.

Known as 'Gaj' to his friends, L-Cpl Gurung served three times in Afghanistan. First in 2006 with 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, and again in 2008. Major Spiro Christopher Marcandonatos, Officer Commanding D (Delhi) Company, 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, said: "I have known Lance Corporal Gurung for nearly three years. An extraordinary individual, he made an impression from the very first time I met him. Bright and well-educated, he was most definitely a 'people person' who abided by all the right values; a true Gurkha at heart, with a Western twist."

23-year-old US Marine Sergeant William C. Stacey, died on 31st January 2012 during combat operations in Helmand province. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, California.

Sgt. Stacey joined the Marine Corps in January 2007. This was his second deployment to Afghanistan.

His personal awards include the Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two bronze star devices, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with silver star device, and the NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan.

22-year-old US Marine Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus, from Mississippi, was killed on 1st February 2012 in Helmand province.

L-Cpl Dycus served with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The US Department of Defense said the incident leading to his death was under investigation. However, according to various news reports, L-Cpl. Dycus was killed by an Afghan Army soldier who was guarding a joint operating base with him.

Florence Green, the world's last known veteran of World War I, has died at the age of 110, the care home where she lived said Tuesday.

Briar House Care Home in King's Lynn, England, said Green died Saturday, two weeks before her 111th birthday.

Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, she joined the Women's Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17.

She went to work as a waitress in the officers' mess at RAF Marham in eastern England, and was serving there when the war ended in November 1918.

Green remembered her wartime service with affection.

"I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates," she said in an interview in 2008. "I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes but I was scared of flying. I would work every hour God sent. But I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time. In many ways, I had the time of my life."

She was officially recognized as a veteran when a researcher found her service record in the National Archives.

The RAF marked her 110th birthday in February 2011 with a cake.

Asked what it was like to be 110, Green said "It's not much different to being 109."

The war's last known combatant, Royal Navy veteran Claude Choules, died in Australia in May.

After his death, Green became the war's last known surviving service member from the war, according to the Order of the First World War, a U.S.-based group that tracks veterans.

24-year-old US Army Private 1st Class Cesar Cortez, from Oceanside, California, died on 11th February 2012 in Bahrain.

Pfc. Cortez, who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom from a base in Bahrain, served with the 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, based at Fort Bliss, Texas.

According to a report in the NY Daily News, L-Cpl. Montes De Oca was killed at the beginning of his patrol. "He was walking out of the base and he was immediately shot," his girlfriend Maria Samaniego said.

A Navy hospital corpsman deployed with a Camp Pendleton Marine unit in Djibouti died in training, the Pentagon announced.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyler L. Estrada, 21, of Maricopa, Ariz., was killed Tuesday serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He died from a gunshot wound during a training exercise, according to the Naval Safety Center.

The Marine unit stopped in Africa during a sea tour, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the war in Afghanistan.

Estrada described his job as "fix broken Marines," according to his Facebook page.

He is survived by his wife, Alyssa. "My best friend and my soul mate died," she wrote on her page.

"Kyler Estrada is now and always will be the one love of my life. Thank you baby for giving me enough happiness in one year to last me the rest of forever. I will never forget you my love."

Thanking family and friends for the outpouring of condolences, she said: "Kyler was so blessed to have so many people who cared about him, and always will."

British Senior Aircraftman Ryan Tomlin, of 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment was killed in action on 13th February 2012 during a patrol in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province. SAC Tomlin was fatally shot when insurgents attacked his unit.

21-year-old SAC Tomlin joined the Royal Air Force in October 2008, completing his Trainee Gunners Course in April 2009 before moving on to the Phase One Field Gunners Course. He was selected to join 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment, based at Royal Air Force Honington, in June 2009.

He served in Afghanistan in 2010 as a specialist driver on a rifle flight (the RAF Regiment equivalent of a platoon), defending Kandahar Air Base. He deployed on his second tour in Afghanistan in October 2011 with No. 3 RAF Force Protection Wing at Camp Bastion.

Flight Lieutenant David Martin, Deputy Squadron Commander, 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment, No. 3 RAF Force Protection Wing, said: "Professional, experienced and extremely popular, Senior Aircraftman Tomlin was one of the best gunners in 2 Squadron. He excelled at everything he did and he epitomised the Royal Air Force Regiment spirit in every way. He was hugely respected by his peers and he frequently mentored the younger members of the Squadron. Joining the Squadron in 2009, Senior Aircraftman Tomlin soon proved to be an exceptional marksman, displaying an excellent flair for fieldcraft."

He leaves behind his mother and father, Diane and Kevin, and a sister, Michelle.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next five Navy ships; three Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers, the USS John Finn, the USS Ralph Johnson, and the USS Rafael Peralta, and two littoral combat ships (LCS), the USS Sioux City and the USS Omaha.

Mabus named the three destroyers after Navy and Marine Corps heroes whose actions occurred during different conflicts which spanned several decades, but were united in their uncommon valor. The littoral combat ships were named after two American communities.

John Finn, who retired as a lieutenant, received the Medal of Honor from Adm. Chester Nimitz for displaying “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death” during the Japanese attack on military installations in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor. Marine Corps Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for shouting a warning to his fellow Marines and hurling himself on an explosive device, saving the life of one Marine and preventing the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol’s perimeter during the Vietnam War. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Rafael Peralta was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for selflessly covering a grenade with his body to save his fellow Marines from the blast during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“Finn, Johnson and Peralta have all been recognized with some of our nation’s highest awards,” said Mabus. “I want to ensure their service and sacrifice will be known by today's sailors and Marines and honored for several decades to come by a new generation of Americans and people from around the world who will come in contact with these ships.”

The Arleigh Burke class destroyers will be able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. All three ships will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare in keeping with the Navy’s ability to execute the Department of Defense’ defense strategy.

“The littoral combat ship is a major part of the future of our Navy,” Mabus said, pointing out LCS is fast, agile, and operates with a smaller crew and can perform operations in both shallow and deep waters.

“I chose the name for our two new littoral combat ships after Midwestern cities from America’s heartland, to honor the patriotic, hard-working citizens of Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, for their support of and contributions to the military.”

Sioux City and Omaha will be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission packages, which can be changed out quickly as combat needs demand. These mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine, undersea and surface warfare missions.

Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wis., will build the Freedom variant, the USS Sioux City, which will be 378 feet in length, have a waterline beam of 57 feet, displace approximately 3,000 tons, and make speed in excess of 40 knots. Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., will build the Independence variant, the USS Omaha, which will be 419 feet in length, have a waterline beam of 103 feet, displace approximately 3,000 tons, and make speed in excess of 40 knots.

The Department of Defense said Petty Officer First Class Paris S. Pough died Friday during a port visit to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

Pough was assigned to the USS Carl Vinson, which is based in San Diego. According to the ship's Facebook page, the 40-year-old hull technician died as a result of a noncombat-related incident in the port city.

Officials did not release the cause of death.

He was described as a "hard-working, trustworthy shipmate."

The Defense Department lists Pough as being from Columbus, but he has an address listed in Kingsland, S.C.

A woman who answered the phone at that number said he has four children, ages 12 to 1. She declined comment.